Disclaimer: I don't own any of the quirky, loveable residents of Stars Hollow. Darn. Also, most of my medical knowledge comes from watching ER (which I also have no share in) so if I get something wrong, please pretend it's right.
A/N. This chapter is for Erin, because she's the best friend in the world. :) Lots of "Luke/Lorelai action" for ya. Happy (early) Birthday, dahling!
Chapter 4: Monday
The next morning, Luke left Caesar in charge and went back to Hartford to pick up the Gilmores. He found Lorelai and Rory all ready to go, Rory sitting in a wheelchair.
"I still don't understand why I have to be pushed out of here. I'm fine, just sleepy. I really don't think I'm going to faint again."
A sneaky smile crept over Lorelai's face. "Let's switch then! I'll ride in the wheelchair, and you can walk."
"Lorelai." Luke interjected, "these people have been to medical school. They won't fall for that."
"Oh yeah? Just watch. Rory, out of the chair." Mother and daughter switched places quickly, before the attending nurse came.
He entered the room with a smile. "Hi, I'm Asa, and I'll take you out of here. All ready to go?" He asked as he got behind the chair.
Lorelai grinned over at Luke. "Yep."
"Ok, then, let's go." Asa wheeled her out of the room. Rory pulled on Luke's sleeve to get him moving. He had been standing, dumfounded, staring after Lorelai and the nurse.
"Come on, Luke. Just be glad you didn't put any money on that one." Finally Luke began moving, and he and Rory followed Asa's retreating form down the hall. When he and Lorelai had reached the parking lot, they stopped and waited for Luke and Rory to catch up. When those two arrived, Lorelai hopped out of the wheelchair.
"Thanks for the ride, Asa!" He smiled at her, turned around, and went back into the hospital. Lorelai pointed at Luke. "Ha! I knew we'd get away with it. Just be glad you didn't put any money on it."
The three of them walked over to Luke's truck. Rory clambered into the middle seat and leaned against Lorelai as they drove. Within minutes of leaving the hospital, the low rumble of the engine soothed Rory into sleep. Luke and Lorelai talked quietly so as not to wake her.
"Well, I should call Rory's school when we get home. Dr. Kasan said that mono can last for months." Lorelai looked at her daughter, a wrinkle of worry creasing her forehead. "Rory's smart, but I don't know if she'll be able to deal with months of catching up. I'm worried, Luke."
He glanced over at Lorelai. "She can do it. And, just because it can last for months doesn't mean it will."
Lorelai sighed. "I guess you're right. And I'm sure her teachers will go a bit easy with the homework. I mean, it's not like she asked to get mono. They'll have to go easy on her. Right?" She looked to Luke for assurance.
He looked over at her, and she reminded him of a little girl who had gotten lost in a giant store. He took one hand from the steering wheel and put his arm along the back of the seat. His hand reached to Lorelai's neck, which he rubbed gently. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the soothing touch. Luke kept massaging her neck until they reached the house. Lorelai opened her eyes and sighed again as Luke turned off the ignition. She turned and smiled at him.
"Thanks, Luke." Lorelai wanted to say more, but couldn't find the words. "So… I guess we should go in." She undid her seatbelt and prepared to wake Rory up. Luke caught her hand before she could begin shaking her daughter.
"Let her sleep. I can carry her in."
"No, it's ok-."
"Lorelai." Luke's tone showed that he wouldn't let her argue. "The more sleep she gets, the quicker she'll get better, and then she can start catching up sooner."
Lorelai couldn't argue with that logic, so she nodded. She unbuckled Rory as Luke walked around the front of the truck. Lorelai hopped to the ground and went to open the front door as Luke pulled Rory from the truck. Holding her much better than Dean had, he carried her into the house. Lorelai was in Rory's room plumping the pillows and straightening out the sheets, so all Luke had to do was lay Rory down. Lorelai covered her up, and the adults stood there, looking at her. Luke's heart gave a little squeeze, and he wondered if this was what real fatherhood was like. It felt almost… normal… to be standing here with Lorelai, guarding over the teenager that they both loved.
Luke cleared his throat, ending the moment. "Well, I should get to the diner. I left Caesar alone, and he can't deal with the lunch rush by himself, so…"
"Yeah, I understand. Thank you so much, Luke. For picking us up and taking care of us and everything."
"No problem. Just call if you need anything. Food, babysitter… I mean it." Lorelai nodded in response as the two left Rory's room.
"Luke?" He turned to face Lorelai. She shrugged, unsure of why she had called him. "Thanks again." And then, surprising them both, she stepped forward and hugged Luke. Quickly she stepped back.
"Lorelai…" She held up a hand to stop Luke from speaking, but he ignored it. "You should try to get some sleep, too."
Lorelai was pleasantly surprised at Luke's concern. "I'll try."
"Better than nothing." Both adults smiled as they realized that they had used the exact same phrases the day before. With a small wave, Luke let himself out of the house. Lorelai moved back into the kitchen, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Letting out a small groan, she banged her head on the table twice. She rested there for a moment before getting back up and looking for the phone.
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Five hours later, Chilton had been called, Lorelai had booked off work for the week, and she had taken a long rest. When she woke up, she ordered a pizza and channel-surfed. Twenty minutes later, the delivery guy arrived, and Rory woke up.
"Your sense of timing is impeccable, Rory." Lorelai exclaimed as they sat down.
"Well, timing is everything." Rory smiled at her mother and began eating ravenously.
When they were finished their meal, Lorelai brought up the subject of school. "I called Chilton and told them you have mono. I have a conference with your teachers tomorrow afternoon to discuss your workload. I'll see if I can get them to exempt you from tests if you hand in enough homework."
"Thanks." Rory looked at Lorelai. "I'm sorry, Mom."
Lorelai looked confused. "For what?"
"Getting sick."
"Oh, honey, it's not your fault. I mean, unless you did a mono dance, I doubt that you wanted this. You can't help it." Seeing her own previous worry mirrored in her daughter's eyes, Lorelai reached over and took Rory's hand. "We'll get through it."
"We always do." Mother and daughter smiled at each other. Just then, the phone rang, and Lorelai answered it.
"Stan's Mortuary; you stab 'em, we slab 'em."
"Lorelai! What a horrible thing to say!"
"Oh, hi Mom."
"What if I had been calling to tell you that someone had died?"
"Well, I would have chalked it up to ESP."
"What an awful way to answer the phone. I can't believe you said that."
"I'm beginning to regret it."
"Well, you should. It's simply appalling."
"Alright, Mother, I understand. It was a disgusting, vile thing to say. Now, apart from criticizing my answering technique, was there a reason for this call?"
"Yes. Your father and I were wondering how Rory is."
"Oh, Rory's fine." Lorelai lied. Rory glared at her. "Well, she has a touch of mono, but apart from the fact that she's temporarily a narcoleptic, she's fine."
"Pardon me? Really, Lorelai, do you ever just say what you mean?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Rory has mono. She's sleepy all the time. Other than that, she's ok."
"Well, thank you for calling us the instant you got the news. That was courteous of you." Replied Emily sarcastically.
"Mom, I'm sorry, but things have been a little bit crazy around here today. I had other stuff to take care of first."
"Oh. So we were on the list of things to do? Did we rank above or below 'shampoo hair'?" Emily's tone was full of vinegar.
"Mom. I had to call Chilton to arrange a meeting with Headmaster Charleston and Rory's teachers to talk about how much she can and will be expected to do, so that we make the most of the tuition that you are paying. And then I had to call in to work to get time off so I can take care of Rory." The teen's eyes widened at this news, and Lorelai gave her a we'll-deal-with-this-later look. "And then, I had to sleep, because I didn't sleep well last night, and now we're eating because that's fairly essential to survival, and when I was done eating I was going to call you. So, yes, you do rank above shampooing."
When Emily spoke again her tone was subdued. "I'm sorry, Lorelai I shouldn't have been so harsh with you."
Hearing her mother apologize made Lorelai soften as well. "Well, I guess I could have called you earlier."
"It would have been nice. But, what's done is done." Emily was back to her normal self. "I will call Headmaster Charleston as well, and let him know that I will not allow him or his teachers to push Rory too hard."
Lorelai wanted to protest, but when she saw that Rory was looking tired again, she swallowed her objection. "Thank you. Look, I have to help Rory to bed now, but I'll be home all week if you want to call."
"Thank you, Lorelai. I may check up on Rory later, perhaps on Thursday."
"Ok." An awkward pause followed. "Well, I guess we'll talk later, then."
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Ok. Well, bye."
"Goodbye, Lorelai." Both women hung up.
Lorelai shook her head in a mixture of confusion and amazement. "Well, that was fun."
Rory blinked fuzzily. "Sounded like it." She switched topics. "You can't stay home all week."
"Yes I can, and I will."
Rory yawned hugely. "We'll talk about this the next time I'm awake." She stood up and shuffled back to her room. "Goodnight, Mom."
"Goodnight, Rory. I love you."
"Love you, too."
"Sleep well." There was no answer.
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Lorelai wasn't used to having such a quiet house. Even when Rory was in her room, doing homework, there was the itching of a pen across paper, the riffles of pages turning, and the low hum of Rory's classical 'homework' music. If Rory was gone, the house had a happy, waiting sort of energy. But now, there was no excited anticipation; only the knowledge that Rory was sick and likely wouldn't be well soon. Lorelai had plenty of time to think and worry. She even cleaned a little bit, arranging the magazines in neat piles and blowing the dust off the top of the TV. When all of that was done, she sat down again. What would she do? Life wasn't half as fun without Rory. In fact, it was downright boring. Lorelai decided to spruce it up a bit. Picking up the phone, she dialed the number for the video store.
"Stars Hollow Video, Kirk speaking."
"Hi, is Scotty there?"
"Scotty who?"
"Um, just Scotty. Is he there?"
"I think you may have the wrong number."
"No, if you're Kirk, then Scotty must be around somewhere. Unless he's waiting on the ship to beam you up."
"Lorelai? Is that you?"
Lorelai hung up, giggling. That had been fun. She thought about whom she should call next. Taylor? It was always enjoyable to get him all riled up, and prank calls were just about the quickest way to do that. She was about to pick up the phone when it rang.
"Dorothy here, next tornado to Oz in half an hour!" Lorelai chirped.
"Lorelai, did you just call me?"
"Well, depends on who 'you' are."
"Kirk."
"Kirk? No, I didn't call you. But I am looking for Scotty, so if you see him, could you tell him to call me?"
"That's not funny. I can't help it that I was conceived at a Star Trek convention."
"Ok, eeeeeeeeeeeeewwww! That was way beyond too much information. Why did you feel the need to tell me that?"
"It slipped out. Sorry."
"No, stuff like that doesn't just 'slip out'. Ugh. Although, it does make it a teeny little bit easier to understand you." There was a pause, which Lorelai ended. "Well, as enlightening as this has been, I have more prank calls to make."
"Don't tell me you're going to ask Taylor if Frank N Furter is in the market."
"Oh, thanks, Kirk! I'd forgotten about Frankie."
"Oh dear. Don't tell Taylor that I reminded you."
"Ah, your secret's safe with me, cap'n." Lorelai heard Kirk's indignant squawk as she removed the phone from her ear and pressed the 'end' button. Kirk really made it far too easy to tease him. Quickly Lorelai dialed the number for Doose's market. This time she decided to lower her voice, so she wouldn't be discovered so quickly.
"Doose's Market, Fabia speaking. How may I help you?"
Lorelai used her regular voice. "Hey Fabia, it's Lorelai."
"Oh, hello! Is there something you need?"
"No, actually I was trying to prank call Taylor."
"Oh. Sorry if I ruined your fun. Would you like me to get him on the line?"
"No, no, that's ok. I'll call back later. Cuz, if you were to put him on the line, and then I asked for Frank N Furter… well, that just wouldn't make much sense, right?"
"Right. Well, he's coming over here, so if you call back really soon, he'll have to answer it."
"Ok, thanks! I'll do that. Bye!" They hung up.
Taylor bustled over. "Who was that?"
"Wrong number." Fabia turned to ring up a customer's purchases. She had scanned three items when the phone rang. She looked up at Taylor, shrugged as if to apologize, and continued to run the bar codes of groceries over the scanner. Taylor didn't know why she was apologizing; he could answer the phone in his own store!
"Doose's Market, Taylor Doose speaking. How may I be of assistance today?"
This time Lorelai affected a high, lispy accent. "Hi, I'm looking for Phil. He told me he was going grocery shopping."
Taylor scanned the store, but recognized everyone he could see. "I'm sorry, I don't think there's anyone here by that name."
"Well, could you maybe page him? It's really important."
Taylor sighed. "Very well. What is this Phil's last name?"
"McCracken."
Taylor picked up the intercom. "If there is a Phil McCracken in the store, could he please come to the checkout."
Lorelai heard someone laughing in the store, and a male voice exclaimed, "Phil McCracken! That's good!" That was the end of Lorelai's self control. She began giggling as she pictured Taylor's look of shock that someone found the name funny. She was snorting and holding her stomach when Taylor came back on the phone, and she had to squelch her laughter.
"I'm sorry, miss, but there seems to be no 'Phil McCracken' in my market."
Lorelai began giggling again, and dropped the accent when she spoke again. "I can't believe you just said 'fill my crack in' over the intercom! This is so much better than the Frank N Furter call!"
"Lorelai?"
She grinned at the mixture of shock, horror, and incredulity in Taylor's tone. "The one and only!"
"Lorelai, I really expect better of you. What kind of role model are you being for Rory?"
Lorelai shuddered. "Taylor, you just sounded eerily like my mother. Have you been working on your channeling lately?"
"Lorelai." Taylor's tone was full of exasperation. "Do you have a legitimate reason for calling?"
"Not really."
"Then could you please hang up? What if someone really needs to call here?"
Lorelai gasped and put her hand over her heart. "Oh my! I never even thought about that. I mean, what if someone needs three rutabagas delivered to their house immediately so she can finish her…" Lorelai fished around for something suitably weird, but couldn't find anything to finish her comeback oddly enough. "Alright, fine. Bye, Taylor!" And with that she hung up. A grin remained on her face for a long time.
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Author's note: Well, I've never had mono myself, but I know someone who did, and it didn't look like fun. So I decided to write about it. Anyway, I think from here on in I'm not going to go day-by-day (in the story), but will likely do weekly things with highlights of special moments. Like, Lorelai's meeting with the teachers and anything else that may happen in the week, etcetera. Because, I want to finish this story before I go to college in a week. (ipe). Ok? Great. Oh, and for the record, if Kirk is 32 or younger (my sister and I decided that he's in his late 20's) he could have been conceived at a Star Trek convention. I did research. The first one was in 1970. So, now you know. The things I do for realism in my stories…
